Tag: Scotty Boman

On Sunday January 6th. Commissioner Willie Burton and DRACO founder Scotty Boman filled in for Robert Ficano on 910 AM Superstation. They were joined by Special guest Greg Dunmore. Dunmore is multimedia journalist and executive producer of Pulse Beat Media.

During the last half hour Shantell & Kwajalyn Bradley spoke about the treatment of their cousin Lakeisha Williams who was beaten by DPD Corporal Dwayne Jones at Detroit receiving hospital. They also expressed their feelings about the accountability of Corporal Jones.

In August a cell phone video surfaced that captured Detroit Police Corporal Dwayne Jones repeatedly punching a naked, unarmed woman as other officers restrained her. Shortly after this Police Chief Craig suspended Jones with pay. On December 3rd the Wayne County prosecutor’s office arraigned Jones on felony misconduct and misdemeanor assault and battery charges. He will be back in court this Wednesday.

On Thursday, December 6th The Detroit Board of Police Commissioners voted 5 to 2 to return Jones to duty against the advice of Chief Craig who recommended suspension without pay. Commissioner Burton, who will be at the press conference, was alone in asking for more time so that the board could make a fully informed decision.

“We need to invest heavily in training officers when they come in contact with the mentally ill. The police also need to look at what Minneapolis is doing, deploying case workers out on those mental health runs. Minneapolis has the best model. The program worked there it can also work here. ”

“Wrong is wrong, this officers actions were wrong. We must stand for justice.” Proclaimed Reverend Charles Williams II, President of the National Action Network’s Michigan Chapter.

DRACO founder Scotty Boman remarked, “The job of the Board of Police Commissioners is oversight. If a blue wall stands between them and what is right, it is their job to scale that wall. Instead, five commissioners chose to be bricks in that wall.

Q2
What do you believe qualifies you to be on the Detroit Charter Commission?

Lifelong Citizen of the City of Detroit and active community member.

Q3
Why do you want to be on the Detroit Charter Commission?

I want to ensure that the revisions are in the best interest of all that live within the City of Detroit.

Q4
Would you support keeping a Board of Police Commissioners in the revised charter?

Definitely would

Q5
Would you support keeping a system whereby the majority of the Police Commissioners are elected?

Definitely would

Q6
Would you support the election of some of the Commissioners by district?

Definitely would

Q7
Would you support the requirement that Commissioners be civilians at the time they are elected?

Definitely would

Q8
Check powers or responsibilities you would like Police Commissioners to retain:

In consultation with the Chief of Police, and with the approval of the Mayor establish policies, rules and regulations.
Review and approve the departmental budget before its submission to the Mayor.
Receive and resolve, as provided in this chapter, any complaint concerning the operation of the Police Department and forward all allegations of criminality to the appropriate internal or external law enforcement agency for further investigation.
Make an annual report to the Mayor, the City Council, and the public of the department’s activities during the previous year, including the handling of crime and complaints, and of future plans.
The Board shall also appoint a Chief Investigator and such additional staff of investigators as it deems necessary.

Q9
Do you think it is a conflict of interest for former Detroit Police Officers to serve on the BOPC?

Sometimes

Q10
I affirm the above statement. *

Yes.

*
• I affirm that I will work to create a charter that contains the following provisions, and will only vote to have a draft of the charter presented to the people, to be voted on, if it contains these provisions:
• A civilian Board of Police Commissioners.
• The requirement that the majority of the Board be elected.
• The requirement that some of the commissioners be elected from compact districts.
• A requirement of residency in the region the commissioner represents as a qualification for holding that office.
• Oversight powers being assigned to the Board that are at least as extensive as those possessed under the current charter.

Detroit, MI – Scotty Boman, founder of Detroit Residents Advancing Civilian Oversight (D.R.A.C.O.). Appears to have been unsuccessful in preventing the Charter Revision (Proposal R) from passing, but he hasn’t given up on his mission to preserve the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners (BOPC).

On September 30th he announced that he would be holding a candidate forum for Charter Commission Candidates, with the future of the Board of Police Commissioners being a central topic. The forum will be held on Sunday on October 14th at the Samaritan Center 5555 Conner St, Detroit, MI 48213.

DRACO also sent questionnaires to Detroit Charter Commission (DCC) candidates, with assurances that the results would be well publicized. According to Boman,

“We want the public to make informed decisions. If more people were aware of Proposal R, we wouldn’t be having this conversation, but some DCC candidates have already come out in favor of preserving or even expanding on, the elected BOPC. DRACO is an educational organization, and we want to make sure voters know which DCC candidates support civilian oversight and the right of Detroiters to elect their own Police Commissioners.”

Boman isn’t convinced that the Proposal R (the ballot question that opened the Charter for revision) passed in a fair election. He and two other Detroit residents, Gregg Newsom and Lucinda Darrah, successfully petitioned for a recount of some Detroit precincts. On September 6th they attempted to recount 65 of Detroit’s 503 precincts, but were only able to recount 61 of them. The measure had reportedly won by 184 votes, but the challenges were able lower that difference to 173. However a much larger number of votes could not be recounted. Four precincts were said to be “uncountable.” The number of ballots in those precincts was 520, much larger than the difference between “Yes” and “No” votes.

Michigan election law allows results to stand when discrepancies between log books, machine counts, or the physical number of ballots renders a precinct “uncountable.” In one case, two precincts that were stored in the same “sealed” ballot box were missing 38 of the ballots that were on record as having been placed in the box.

Furthermore a few different voters had reported that they could not find the proposal on their ballots, and one member of the community swore that election officials claimed the proposal would be on the General Election ballot. As a result Boman filed a request on September 26th that Attorney General Bill Schuette seek a court order nullifying the results of the election (as pertains to Proposal R). In the filing Boman stated,

“In spite of irregularities many times as serious as those needed to change the outcome of the election, the Wayne County board of canvassers upheld the results without organizing an investigation into the cause of the irregularities or how those irregularities could affect the outcome of the election. In so doing they have usurped the right of the people to approve or disapprove of the charter since a true and proper result cannot be determined as the number of uncountable ballots will change the outcome and result.”

If the Attorney General fails to act within 30 days, the matter will be passed on to the circuit court. Boman is seeking an attorney to take the action to that level.